AWAKENING
HEALTH
The encounters with the divinity described in the
book came from a wide variety of people, including physicians, scientists and people from all walks
of life. They were so profound and life-changing
that even though people struggled to put them
into words, a mosaic of concepts emerges from the
reports of the experiencers that begin to build a
composite picture of the qualities of God – peace,
light, happiness, joy and love. Love seems to be
the key – total, all-encompassing, absolute and unconditional love. All the reports agree that God
loves us all regardless of religious belief or disbelief, gender or sexual preference, social status or
nationality.
This love of God accommodates mistakes so that
we can learn and grow. While there is no judgment,
we do seem to experience every bit of pain and torment we have inflicted upon others throughout
our lives through their eyes – a painful learning experience offered by a loving God. Just think of the
implications if people were to truly take on board
that: A) we are an eternal, inseparable part of God;
B) we are loved unconditionally; C) we get to learn
from our mistakes and do better next time.
Jeffrey Long offered the analogy of the tall mountain with different streams of people wending their
way to the top from every side. The mountain may
be covered in fog so we may not see each other
along the journey, but we’re all heading towards
the same destination. When we do get there we’ll
discover that we’re all family after all, so rather
than fighting about our differences, maybe we
should all relax and celebrate them as part of a
most colorful journey.
Reviewed by Miriam Knight
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeffrey Long, M.D. is a Radiation oncologist
and a leading near-death experience (NDE)
researcher. Dr. Long founded the Near Death
Experience Research Foundation (www.
nderf.org). Over 15 years of research went
into Dr. Long’s books, Evidence of the Afterlife:
The Science of Near-Death Experiences, and
God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking
New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience.
Portions of the www.nderf.org web site have
been posted in 30 different languages, leading to increasing awareness worldwide and
across cultural boundaries that we all share
these types of experiences, and that they are
similar to a degree that is medically inexplicable. The potential to heighten world understanding is obvious, and very important.
Over 4000 NDEs are currently posted on
www.nderf.org, making it by far the largest
number of NDEs ever studied, and by far the
largest number of NDEs publicly accessible
in the world. If you’ve had an experience, by
all means share it there.
14 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW